


Dead Set

by VS_Brewster



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris
Genre: Adultery, F/M, Gen, Lemon, OFC - Freeform, post-dead ever after
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-16
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2017-12-12 00:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/805256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VS_Brewster/pseuds/VS_Brewster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty years after the end of Dead Ever After, Sookie is married with children and living a happy quiet life.  Until an old flame turns up on her doorstep, bringing long dead feelings and problems with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

It was a balmy night in the middle of summer. Even I had been too hot in the day, and I drink up the sun like a bee drinks nectar. I was dressed in a cool cotton tank top, grateful that working hard in the garden meant my arms were still trim and tanned. My denim cut-offs weren’t as short as I used to wear, but that tends to happen when you become a Mom, and when you pass a certain age. But all in all, my hair was shiny smooth and sun kissed, my skin was a rich oiled tan and for my forty-five years I still looked pretty good.

Quiet moments were hard to come by, so I’d taken a spare few while the kids were finishing up their homework. The radio babbled softly in doors, but all else I could hear were the buzz of insects and the soft whisper of a breeze in the trees. I closed my eyes, savouring the feel of the marginally cooler air kissing my face. It seemed to be whispering my name.

“Beautiful as ever,” the wind whispered next.

Except it wasn’t the wind. It was a voice so familiar it made me ache with a sorrow I thought I’d shed a long time ago. Afraid that it was my imagination -- and also afraid that it wasn’t – I took a moment to breathe before I opened my eyes.

‘Beautiful as ever’ about summed it up. Eric hadn’t changed a jot in twenty years. Though why this surprised me I couldn’t imagine. Eric was a vampire, and I know he would always look the same. But everyone else had changed so much in the time since he went to Oklahoma, me included. Yet there he was, all six and a half foot of him, long blonde hair and a smile that could melt ice. I found the corners of my own mouth twitching into a matching smile, but my voice was wary as I said, “Eric. What are you doing back in Louisiana?”

“Not pleased to see me, lover?” he asked, walking towards me and starting up the porch steps. Despite the heat, he was dressed in dark jeans and a suit jacket. Absently I wondered if he had dressed up for me. “I’ve not been back long. You were high on my list of people to visit.” He looked expectant. He wanted me to be grateful.

“That wasn’t what I asked,” I said carefully, listening closely for sounds of life within the house, wondering how long I had before the kids would come out to see where I’d gone.

“I am staying at Fangtasia, for the time being, though I will need to re-think my domestic arrangements. That is Pam’s place now and it annoys her when I interfere. What am I doing in Louisiana?” He seemed to ponder the question for a little while, as he made his way closer to me. “Having been released from my bond to Freyda, it seemed the obvious place to go. Though from the welcome I’ve had, I am questioning that decision.”

“Released from Freyda...” I said faintly, but any further comment was broken off when Adele clattered through the screen onto the porch.

“Mom, I’m done!” she was calling, her bare feet slapping on the boards as she ran towards me. The sight of a stranger looming over her mother stopped her in her tracks, blue eyes wide, instantly shy.

I held out my hand to my youngest, while watching Eric carefully. I was unsure how he’d react to the knowledge that I had children, though he must surely have guessed. Eric was watching Adele as closely as I was watching him. “Come here, baby girl. This is Mr Northman. He’s an old friend of mine.”

Adele slid up onto my lap. I can’t hear him, her soft voice said in my head.

I know baby. “Mr Northman is a vampire, like Uncle Bill,” I said aloud, knowing Eric would be suspicious if we remained silent too long.

‘Uncle Bill’ raised a smile, but he refrained from passing comment. Instead, the Viking took a final step forward and crouched down, so he didn’t completely dwarf the pair of us. He held out a cool pale hand to my daughter. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Strackhouse.”

I was about to encourage Addie mentally to take Eric’s hand, but she was way ahead of me. Eric’s pale hand engulfed her small tan one. “How come you knew I had Mom’s name? Normally people think I have Daddy’s name.”

Eric grinned, his teeth brilliantly white even in the darkness. “You look more like a Stackhouse than a Merlotte. And this is a Stackhouse house. There have been Stackhouses here for generations.”

I knew he was mocking me with my pride over my heritage. Well, hang him, my family were good people and I had every right to be proud.

“Are you going to invite me in, Sookie?”

Addie looked up at me expectantly. I like him, I heard clear as a bell, though I don’t think she’d meant to let that slip. Of course she liked him. There was no resisting that charm when he turned it on. I drew a deep breath and stood, lifting Adele up onto my hip, though she was really getting too big. “Eric, would you like to come inside?”

“I would. Thank you.”

I eased Addie back to the floor as we crossed the threshold. Eric was looking around him, no doubt noting the changes we had made and the many things that had stayed the same. "Now upstairs and brush your teeth. Make sure your brother does as well. And I'll know if you don't do it properly."

Addie was brimming with resentment that she had been dismissed from the company of this stranger, but at that moment I just couldn't give two hoots. Eric's marriage condition that I be spared the attention of the vampire community had made it much easier to keep Addie's 'gift' a secret, but I still didn't trust him not to exploit my only daughter if he found out.

In a New York minute I heard the clatter and thump of the kids racing towards the bathroom. Eric's eyes narrowed just a little, and that made me chuckle.

"Have a seat," I told him as we moved into the kitchen. "Can I get you a bottle of blood?"

"No thank you, I won't keep you long."

He sat there staring at me, and it washed over me again how he was exactly the same as he had been - charming and gorgeous, dangerous and inscrutable. "Ok, spill. Sam will be back in-"

"In about thirty minutes, I know. I've been keeping an eye on the house for a couple of nights." I thought quickly. Last night had been my turn to work late, and the night before had been family night where we all stayed home together. Even Hunter had come by briefly. Oh Lord, I thought, another 'gift' I have to hide. "So I will make this brief. Freyda has been killed by extremists in her home state. She was ... Unpopular amongst the humans. I won't go into details, but she was abducted and killed. The vampire authorities have been keeping the circumstances of her death quiet so as not to arouse attention in neighbouring kingdoms while a new monarch is chosen."

I sat back while that sank in. It had been so long since I'd needed to think about vampire politics. The only vampires I saw regularly these days were Bill and Pam, and they both knew better than to talk to me about that stuff. My head felt rusty as it creaked into gear, trying to keep up with what Eric was saying. "So your pre-nup?"

"Is void. Which means two things. Firstly, that I am free to see you as much as I want, and to come and go from Oklahoma as I please - though I am keeping a firm base there, the move turned out to be quite lucrative for me. And secondly, you are no longer under binding protection from vampires who wish to utilise your telepathy."

I sighed heavily, my head sinking into my hands. "I'm too old for this," I grumbled. It was a phrase I hated and had sworn on my thirtieth birthday I'd never use, but at this moment it was the God's honest truth. Forty-five was too old to be worrying about being enslaved by ruthless vampires. When I looked up again, Eric looked highly amused. "And what is so funny?" I asked, irritation sharpening my voice.

"I was just thinking how strange it is that humans place such value on youth. You were always beautiful and extraordinary. Twenty years have been like the blink of an eye for me, but to you it seems a great stretch of time. You are as beautiful and remarkable as ever."

I frowned at him. "Stop blowing smoke up my behind. You can't charm me like you used to, I'm too-" my sentence ended in a squeak as Eric moved at lightning vampire speed to take my hand, lifting it to his lips. My heart thudded as I saw his fangs had elongated and he was staring at my pulse point with a blatant hunger that I hadn't realised I'd missed.

"Say you're too old and I will bite. I can feel your body contradicting your words." He breathed in deep and smirked, his fangs reaching their full length as his eyes raked up my body to meet mine. He breathed deliberately, smelling the air. "I can smell the desire and the fear and the fairy."

I'm ashamed to say he was right. I love Sam and we were happy, had been all our married life - but there is nothing like a vampire when he gets that look in his eyes.

But then, with a hiss and a jerk, Eric had retreated again. He was scowling and examining his hand, then looked back at mine. "A silver wedding ring. Your husband has a cruel sense of humour."

"Sorry," I said quickly, "I forgot. It's not often I'm holding hands with a vampire these days."

Eric's ears pricked up. "It's time for me to go. I need to know that I am welcome here. It has been cruel on you, the way things ended, and for that I am sorry. But the circumstances have swung back in our favour." Though his teeth were back to a decent length, his eyes were still intense. "I have missed you, Sookie. More than I can say. And you won't believe it, but our parting was cruel on me as well."

He was right. I didn't believe him. But, naturally, he didn't leave me a chance to get a word in.

"May I come to your house again?"

"It's not like you to ask permission."

He cocked his head and made a proximate mimicking of my voice and tone. "That's not what I asked."

I had to laugh at that. "Yes, but..."

He didn't wait for my condition. In a blink he was gone, the screen door slamming belatedly shut behind him. "Can I play with him the next time he comes, Mommy?"

I turned to see two little spies in the doorway. My face flushed and I wondered how much they had seen - then tried hard not to think about that, before Addie could pick up on it. I thought about how Bill used to let the kids ride around on his back when they were smaller and use him as a climbing frame, how he used his super human strength to throw them around. "I don't think Mr Northman is a playing kind of vampire. But you can say hello, because that's polite."

I could feel the complex snarl of Sam's mind. Addie could as well, and she bolted for the back door with Cody hot on her heels. Thoughts of Eric had left their minds in favour of tackling their Daddy and demanding a bedtime story. My husband kissed my cheek as he ushered the children towards the stairs. I sat smiling a sad little smile and thinking about the day we got married.

It had been the dark before the dawn when I woke to see Pam looming over me as I slept. "Goddamit, Pam! You made me jump out of my skin!"

"Sorry," she said smoothly, not sounding a bit like she meant it, "I wasn't sure how to wake you. I've come with your wedding gift."

I smiled, remembering what would be happening in the morning and delighted to feel no jitters what so ever. 

Pam leaned over me and brushed her cool lips against my forehead. "From Karin," she said, and my eyes drifted closed. Next she kissed my cheek, a firmer, more familiar touch with lingering affection. "From me," she said.

Then her lips were brushing against mine. Were I more awake, more alert, I might have pulled away. But I didn't, and Pam's lips lingered, moist and cool against mine. Tilting her head, she pressed her lips more firmly against mine, but she did not deepen the kiss further. "And that one is from-"

"I know who it's from," I whispered, my eyes still closed. Bitter pain tainted my joy, quickly turning to anger that he would ruin this day for me; that he would not even ruin it personally, but send Pam to do it for him.

When I opened my eyes, Pam seemed oblivious. She was smiling and pleased feline smile, and ran her tongue deliberately over her lips. "Fairy," she sighed. I rolled my eyes, though could feel a smile creeping back onto my face. "This is from him as well. He told me to stay and make sure you read it. Then you can go back to sleep."

Pam dropped a small envelope onto the blanket. I picked it up, figuring it would be best to get it over with. Inside was a single folded sheet of paper, and his familiar handwriting. It said, 'Today by your laws and traditions you will belong to another. But in my heart you will always be mine. With love, respect and felicitations, Eric."

I nodded at Pam, feeling both sad and happy in a way that only Eric could make me feel.

"Congratulations, Sookie. You will be radiant. I only wish I could see." Pam pressed another parting gift to my cheek, and melted into the shadows.

I hadn't read that note again since. I hadn't told anyone about it. It had been slipped, in a quiet moment in the early hours of that morning, into the secret compartment that had hidden Gran's final letter to me - and there it had stayed. I thought of that note, and wondered that I hadn't realised at the time that, were it possible, Eric would come back to me. Now all I needed to do was decide what I was going to do about it ... And what to tell Sam.


	2. Chapter Two

That night I was sleepless for the first time since Cody had learned to sleep through the night. Sam and I had cuddled before bed as normal. I lay with my head on his chest, trying to think how to tell him in a way that wouldn't make for an argument. The kids hadn't mentioned it, too excited at having Daddy home to go over what had happened in their day, but it was only a matter of time. I needed to tell Sam before they did it first.

But he kissed my neck and breathed me in so sweetly, and I could feel the kind of mood he was in pressing against my hip. It was much too easy just to let him kiss me and touch me, and forget about the visit that had set me in the right mood before Sam even got home.

As it happened, it wasn't me or the kids that gave the game away. The next night was a Friday. Me and Sam were both in Merlotte's, the kids stopping with their uncle for the night as we were short staffed and needed all hands to the pump. In typical vampire style, one moment the corner booth was empty and when I turned round again it was occupied by one Bill Compton. I smiled my sunny smile as I walked over to say how-do, pushing hair out of my face and leaning one hip against the table.

He started smiling too, but then he caught wind of me properly and he frowned. "So you know, then?"

"Know what?" Sam asked from behind me, making me jump. He leaned past me to pick up some empties left by a previous patron and smiled as warmly as he could manage at Bill. They would never be the very best of friends, and Lord knew I'd been trying to make them get along for twenty years. At least they made an effort these days, at least when I was around. 

I shot Bill a warning look, but it was no good. 

"Our former sheriff has returned."

Well, if there was one thing these too fine men could agree on, it was a dislike of Eric Northman. Bontemps simply was not big enough for three alpha males.

"Eric dropped in to say hello last night," I said, figuring it was best to confess and get it over with.

"I see. And when were you planning on telling me this?"

Bill sat back in his booth and smirked, apparently enjoying the disruption he had caused. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned away, encouraging Sam back towards the kitchen where we could talk with some privacy. "Lynette, bring Mr Compton a True Blood, would you?" I asked our newest waitress -- small and blonde with her head in the clouds and a fondness for Bontemps' resident vampire. Somehow she reminded me of someone. "It never came up," I hissed when we were alone, our conversation covered by the crash and clamour of the kitchen. "And I didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids. Or anyone else, for that matter."

Sam huffed. "Well, what did he want?"

"Freyda's dead, which means..."

"No more blanket protection," Sam finished for me. "Well, shit. Did he catch on about Addie."

I shook my head. "Don't think so."

Before he could say another word the kitchen yelled for service and a waitress called that there were folks at the bar wanting a drink. "We'll talk later," Sam said. I nodded, but I was dreading it. With a sigh I went back out.

I caught Lynette as she was passing and took the tray from her. "Sorry but I've got a bone to pick with Bill."

She smiled and turned back to the kitchen instead, leaving me to take the little tray with the bottle of blood over to the booth. I set it on the table a little harder than was strictly necessary. "Thanks for that, blabbermouth," I said with my most charming smile.

"A happy couple has no secrets," he said, picking up the bottle and taking a good glug on it.

"Thanks for that pearl of wisdom. So what do you know?"

Bill passed a hand across his mouth, wiping away his blood moustache. "Freyda's dead and Eric's sniffing around my area again." It hadn't taken long after Eric's departure for Bill to get himself made up to Sheriff of Area Five. "He's trying to stay under the radar. Freyda was killed by extremists and there's a chance they'll target him as well. Because her death was so public, he's not been able to keep the regime change quiet." Bill's gaze slunk away. "There are factions showing an interest in you already. I think he's hoping to protect you, but he doesn't really have the jurisdiction any more."

I raised an eyebrow, the rusty old cogs in my brain turning, remembering the bits and pieces of vampire politics I had hoped could be forgotten forever. "Jurisdiction. That places me under you, doesn't it?"

His grin was wolfish. "Why yes it does, Ms Stackhouse." The smile faded away. "Don't worry, Sookie. I know you want to be left alone, and I'll be doing my best to make sure you are."

I smiled and made my way back to work, not wanting to leave the others to pick up my slack for too long. The night went by in a blur. The next time I looked at the corner booth, Bill was gone and I didn't see him again for the rest of the night. Serving food and smiling and chattering came as second nature, and left too much room for my brain to wander. I thought of why I'd needed protection in the first place, what the vampires could really do if I just refused to co-operate. It had seemed I had no choice when I was young, when I was so swept up by these two mysterious, charming men and their attraction to me. Now, though, was even worse. Now I had a family to be used against me, and I knew that there were plenty of vampires or vampire lackeys who would pull no punches to make me do what they wanted. It had been easier then, and would be easier now, to let Bill and Eric handle the situation. They knew both the rules and the loopholes and, more than any other vampire, I trusted them to keep me safe.

Sam and I locked up together at the end of the night. I closed down the beer taps, he locked up the kitchen; I locked up the safe, he wiped down the tables. We left holding hands and drove home in companionable silence.

For the first five minutes at least.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asked.

I exhaled, leaning towards the open window and feeling the wind whip my hair. "Jury's out. I'm leaving them to it for now. Nothing will happen straight away."

Sam sighed. "Is there any way to keep Addie safe?"

"I'll keep Eric away from the kids as much as I can. But at some point we'll have to explain to her why she needs to keep it a secret."

He grumbled under his breath. "That's not a question I'm looking forward to. She's worse than you about lying."

"Well," I said. "That's fairies for you." Truth was, Addy's gift was stronger in many ways than mine. She was already learning to block it out and use it when she wanted to, which I was sure was as much about her inheriting a better control over it as being brought up by someone who understood it. "I'll talk to her," I said eventually. It would be better coming from me. 

It being Friday night, the kids were allowed a little leeway with their bedtime. Cody had already been put down by the time we got back to the house, but Adele was putting on her pyjamas and climbing under the covers as we got back. I kissed Sam on the cheek and decided not to put off till tomorrow what could be done today.

I sat in the bed with her, holding her against me and stroking her hair as I had when she was little. Eleven now, and growing every day it seemed. When I kissed the top of her head I swear I could smell the sunshine. "We need to talk about Mr Northman. You remember him?" Adele nodded. "He knows I can hear people. And he thinks that's a really great gift."

It is, Adele said in her head. I smiled. Sure it was, if you could turn it off and on whenever you wanted. I could feel Adele being sad for me that I had been teased and frightened when I was little, and I squeezed her that little bit tighter.

"It is. And it's nice that he likes it. But there are other vampires who are bad that also know what I can do. They used to make me go do things I didn't like doing, and in real scary places. I got in a lot of trouble once or twice, and it was only Mr Northman and Uncle Bill that kept me safe. Now that was real scary and I didn't like it."

I could feel her in my head, but I didn't scold her. I wasn't telling her the whole story because it wasn't a nice tale for just before bed. When she stumbled across a memory of me getting bitten, very publicly, at a vampire conference I shut her out. That was the night Eric and I had created our bond, a memory that drew out mixed feelings too complicated to be examined by my daughter.

"So what happened? How come you don't do that now?" she asked.

"Mr Northman married a very powerful vampire. As part of the conditions for my wedding, he made it vampire law that they had to leave me alone."

"That was nice of him," Adele interrupted. Her smile was a little too knowing and I tickled her.

"Well, Mr Northman can be a nice man, when he wants to be. But his wife died and now that contract isn't law any more."

"Poor Mr Northman," Addie said. I didn't have the heart to tell her that vampire marriages weren't the same as fairytale ones. There had been very little love lost between Eric and his bride, beautiful though they both were and as ambitious and slippery as each other. "So will you have to work for the vampires again, Mommy?"

I sighed. "I don't know yet, honey. I hope not. But what's really important is that none of them find out about what you can do. You can't let any of tehm know."

"Uncle Bill knows," she said.

I shook my head. "Uncle Bill thinks he knows and makes a big effort not to find out. See, vampires follow some really strict rules. If they're ordered to tell something by someone more important than them, they have to tell it. That's why when you tell Uncle Bill you can read minds, I tell him that's just a game we play. That way, if he's asked, he can say he doesn't know and kind of mean it."

"We can't do that with Mr Northman?" she asked.

How to explain that Mr Northman both could and couldn't be trusted at the same time was a doozey. "Well ... Mr Northman takes things a bit more seriously. He's real curious, and if he thinks that you might be like me, he'll want to find out one way or the other for his own interest. It's not so important to him what happens next."

Addie frowned and twisted to look at me. "That sounds selfish," she said.

We had had a lot of talks about selfish, especially since Cody had been getting older and had been wanting to share Addie's things more. "It is selfish, honey. But I'm not his Mom and there's diddly squat I can do about it."

Even if I wanted to, I thought -- quietly, behind my own mental barriers. Sometimes Eric being selfish had worked out to ... interesting consequences. I thought of how it felt to be bonded to him, married to him. Both had been a trick and I didn't much like finding myself in these spots without consent, but it had all been an intense experience. 

"How come you like him so much if he's selfish?" Addie asked.

I grinned. That one was easy. "Cos your old Ma ain't so smart as you, sweetness. Now. Time for sleep."

For once, Addie snuggled down under the sheets and lay her head meekly on the pillow. I had apparently given her plenty to think about, and she was happy to be left alone in the dark to consider it.

It was approaching the early hours of the morning and I was bone tired and ready for my bed. Padding barefoot into the bedroom I could hear Sam already snoring. I smiled and lay a hand on his mess of hair. Then I noticed my phone on the bedside table, message light flashing. With a sinking feeling, I picked it up and opened the message. "Outside," it said, from Pam's number. Running a hand through my hair to try and smooth teh snarls, I shot a last longing look at my bed and went back downstairs.

Heading outside, I saw a tall handsome hunk of vampire lounging in my porch swing. "Damn, Eric. You took Pam's phone and you're still standing?" I had never known anyone be so protective of their technical gadgetry than that vampire.

"Maker's privilege," he said smoothly. He shifted to one side to make room for me, but left his arms sprawled across the back of the seat.

I rolled my eyes but sat anyway, sitting back and away from him. I could still feel the cool of his skin against the back of my neck. "So," he began, "Selfish, am I?" I felt heat rising up my face at his grin. "You really should close your windows if you want to talk about me. I hear my name and I just can't help myself."

If selfish was the top point on Eric's list of questions, I was fairly confident he hadn't heard how the conversation started. "I try to bring my kids up right. And if you remember, you were never very good at sharing."

He cocked his head to one side. "I quite like the idea of being the subject of a moral tale."

"It's late, Eric," I said, already tired of the small talk, "What's up?"

"We need to have a proper conversation: you and I and the good Sheriff. Between the three of us, we should be able to figure out a way to make you safe." He showed me a toothy grin and I felt old, buried feelings start to re-surface. "Your husband might not like it, though."

"My husband doesn't like any of it so far."

"How was the wedding, Sookie?" He was leaning in closer, his arm curling around me. "Did you get my gift?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, feeling daring in a way I hadn't felt in years. "I think it lost some of its charm in transit."

His lips were very close when he murmured, "I'll take up your complaint with the courier."

I couldn't even say if it was Eric or me that closed the distance, but soon I was experiencing the feel of chilled lips against mine for the first time since the morning of my wedding. Eric's were more sure than Pam's. Kissing him was familiar and easy. His arm closed around me, pulling my body against his. My hands came up to his chest, stroking through the cotton.

We separated, just barely, and I rested my forehead against his. "Eric, what are you doing?"

"You were my wife first," he said.

"And we divorced and went our separate ways. I'm not a doll. You can't pick me up and drop me as it's convenient."

His head slipped to the side, his lips drawn inexorably to my neck. I could hear the need and desire in his voice. "I could join us again. Bonded isn't the same as married. No infidelity there."

I laughed and pushed him back. To his credit, he let me. "You and I have a very different idea of infidelity, mister."

We were quiet a few moments. I wasn't proud that we had kissed, but nor was I surprised. 

"I missed you, Sookie," he said at length.

"Did you?" I asked, leaning my head back against his arm. "I didn't miss you."


End file.
